Director Adam McKay plans to make a radical departure from his comedies with Will Ferrell to direct an adaptation of Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson comic series The Boys. The comic centers on a group of special agents who are tasked with policing the world’s superheroes and villains by any means necessary. McKay says that while he’s still finishing up the script, he’s already started meeting with actors including Russell Crowe for the role of the team’s leader, Billy Butcher:

“I’ve sat with some people. I really like the idea of Russell Crowe for [Billy] Butcher,” said McKay. “We met and had kind of an interesting meeting.”

Hit the jump for more on what McKay had to say about The Boys including the potential difficulty in getting it made.

Still speaking about casting, McKay reiterated to MTV his willingness to cast Simon Pegg as Wee Hughie, a meek civilian who joins the team after his girlfriend is killed by a superhero. The comic’s artist Darick Robertson has previously stated that Pegg was the model for the character. Said McKay:

“Everyone knows Simon Pegg can take Hughie if he wants,” he said. “I don’t know what his schedule is like, though.”

No matter who signs on to The Boys, it may be too much for a studio to take on. McKay explains:

“You really have to wait until the draft is done to get serious about it, plus it’s like a $100 million, Rated-R, anti-superhero movie, so we have to see who bites on it.”

When Steve spoke to McKay about the project back in July, McKay said The Boys was like a “current day Watchmen.” It also took Watchmen several decades to make the transition to the big screen and the resulting box office was less-than-stellar. Studios are only become more conservative and I can’t help but wonder if there’s room for a movie like The Boys no matter how strong the cast.